FAR-FLYING WILD FOWL AND THEIR FOES
and coloration, as well as feeding habits.
This affinity is very apparent when the
species of shoveller inhabiting South Amer
ica and Australia are compared. The South
American shoveller is colored like a cinna
mon teal, while the Australian has the
markings of a blue-wing.
Shoveller
(Spatula clypeata)
The shoveller, more commonly known as
the "spoon-bill" or "spooney," has, like
the gadwall, an almost world-wide range.
In the New World it reaches in summer to
the subarctic regions, but the main nesting
ground is on the prairies of the Canadian
Provinces and the northern tier of States.
In winter it reaches Central America and
even the Hawaiian Islands (see Plate VIII).
Aside from the tremendous bill, the
shoveller is full of character. When feed
ing it is a dabbler, sifting the mud through
its specialized bill with a lateral motion,
rarely tipping up as other surface-feeding
ducks do. It rises from the water with a
jump, and the rattle of its wings as it does
so can be picked out above the noise of
other rising ducks. When settling this
rattle is once more in evidence, and it alights
almost vertically with hardly a splash.
The old historians, such as Alexander Wil
son, rated it high as a table bird.
"An old
hunter will never pass up a spoonbill even
when after canvasback."
But anyhow, in
the West it is not ranked so highly, and it
is seldom shot where better ducks are avail
able.
When first hatched the young have a bill
shaped as in other surface-feeding ducks,
without any evidence of the spatulation
that characterizes the older birds.
In size the shoveller is small medium, a
fat bird weighing one pound twelve ounces.
Canvasback
(Nyroca valisineria)
This fine duck, so often called the
"lordly" canvasback, is distinctly an Ameri
can bird and has never been recorded out
side of its North American range. It breeds
from Alaska and Great Slave Lake south
to northern New Mexico and in winter
reaches well down into Mexico (Plate IX).
Epicures first made the canvasback's
reputation, and along the Atlantic States
where it can get a plentiful supply of its
favorite food, the wild celery (Vallisneria),
which grows so abundantly in the brackish
water of Chesapeake Bay and other similar
inlets, it is certainly an outstanding bird.
But where this water weed does not grow,
the canvasback is not superior to the red
head or many species of surface-feeding
ducks. On the bays of the Pacific coast,
where shellfish form its principal diet, it be
comes almost uneatable.
With the canvasback we start the series
of diving ducks, and with its huge paddles
of feet, heavy body, and rather small wings,
it forms a typical representative of this
group.
Aside from its reputation as a table deli
cacy, there is something regal and outstand
ing about the canvasback. All its actions
are full of character. The big white body
that seems to sit so high on the water, sur
mounted by the slender-shaped head on the
long, thick neck, forms a striking picture.
But when a flock is in full flight the big
birds are seen at their best. There is such
power expressed in the speed and directness
of their driving flight, usually made in line
formation, that it seems to stamp the "can"
as a superduck wherever it is found.
On its nesting grounds it is an early
breeder. A full month before its congeners,
the scaups and redheads, have started to
lay, you can find the female seated on top
of a huge pile of rushes, often anchored in
water two feet deep and some distance
from the shore, with very little attempt at
concealment.
She often has a trick of choosing some
small pond or slough quite a distance from
the larger one that is frequented by the
lordly males. Very soon these desert the
breeding grounds and leave to the females
all the cares of the coming family.
While the canvasback is no larger than a
mallard, it is a heavier bird. I would regard
four pounds as a maximum weight.
Redhead
(Nyroca americana)
The redhead has a decidedly more south
ern breeding range than the canvasback,
ranging from the center of the Prairie Prov
inces and British Columbia south to south
ern California. In winter it does not reach
farther south than Mexico (see Plate IX).
The redhead is one of the least maritime
of all diving ducks. On the Atlantic it may
be found on the brackish inlets, like Chesa
peake Bay and Pamlico Sound, in large
numbers, but on the Pacific it is practically
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